Children's Museum delays buying Dow Museum for one year as fundraising lags

Saturday

Jul 14, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Douglas Jordan

The Children's Museum of St. Johns has put off for a year purchasing the Dow Museum of Historic Houses in St. Augustine because it needs more time to raise the $1.5 million purchase price.

The Children's Museum has signed a new agreement that calls for buying the Dow Museum site next year.

The property, which contains nine historic houses dating back to 1790, is owned and operated by the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach. The two museums agreed to the sale in November, giving the Children's Museum six months to come up with the money.

"It was a bit ambitious on our part to think we could do it in the initial six-month time frame," said acting Children's Museum executive director Susan Connor.

"Before we could begin raising the funds, we had to make sure it wasn't going to be a money pit. We had to do our own due diligence, put together a budget, have a professional rendering done, and get a master site plan. We simply need more time."

The Children's Museum has raised about a third of the needed money so far, Connor said. So on May 30, the Children's Museum leaders approached the Museum of Arts & Sciences and asked for a new arrangement.

"We did exercise our option to purchase," Connor said. "We made a down payment of $50,000."

As a result of the new agreement, the closing date for the purchase has been extended to June 28, 2013.

Museum of Arts & Sciences Executive Director Andrew Sandall said he was happy with the new arrangement and praised the Children's Museum's efforts.

"I have every confidence that they will follow through on this deal," Sandall said. "They've got a good fundraising plan, and they are doing great, but it's a large amount of money, and we didn't want to take everything they had right off."

Ben Platt, the Children's Museum president, is optimistic.

"Having spent the past six months at the Dow Museum conducting due diligence on the property and developing a master site plan, we believe more strongly than ever that this is the perfect location for the future interactive museum experience (the Children's Museum) will provide, allowing children and families to explore, interact, and learn through hands-on play," Platt said.

"The support of the community has been fantastic," said Connor. "(The Children's Museum) has raised more money in the last 60 days than during any other time period since the museum was founded in 2007."

The Children's Museum wants to buy the property and make it into a full-time interactive learning museum directed at young people.

For five years now, the Children's Museum has existed as "a museum without walls," presenting traveling exhibits at schools, community events and festivals. But Connor said the ultimate plan was to obtain a piece of property for a full-time, brick-and-mortar museum.

"We always knew we'd have a place all our own," Connor said. "Someplace where we could create a unique facility to manifest our vision, someplace where the children could come and learn in a fun way."

Sandall said he's also excited about the Children's Museum's plans for the property.

"St. Augustine is a wonderful and unique community, and we love those historic houses," he said. "So, when the opportunity came to put it in the hands of a group from that community that knows and respects the history, with a very specific skill set to manage it, we were happy to do so."

As a show of good faith, Connor said, the Museum of Arts & Sciences is allowing the children's museum to use one of the Dow property houses, at 246 St. George St., for an office and meeting space at no charge.

Sandall of the Museum of Arts & Sciences called the children's museum plan "exciting and unique," and said it's good that they will not radically transform the property or tear down any of the historic buildings.

"The modifications they plan to make to the property are very sympathetic and will keep the historical integrity of the site," said Sandall. "It's exciting, really, and we wish them well. It's going to be a real community gem."

About the Children's Museum of St. Johns

The Children's Museum of St. Johns was founded in February 2007 by a group of parents, professionals and local citizens, and is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of Florida.

For more information, go to ExploreCMSJ.org.

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